Victoria

Victoria is confirmed 6 months pregnant!! The foal is already reserved by a gal that is brand new to the breed! She is hoping that the foal will be a breeding quality stud colt. She wants to campaign him and also train him for AI. So exciting! If things go the way that they are suppose to, I plan on breeding Victoria to a lovely 1999 grulla purebred stallion named Miakoda. I think that they will produce an amazing baby!

I am so curious about the color of the foal (lastly among the obvious of the baby being healthy, well conformed with a great temperament) as Victoria has only produced grullas so far. The sire was a zebra dun, and his parents were zebra duns. I don't know if he is homozygous for the agouti gene (gene that causes horses to have a bay base coat. Dun + bay = zebra dun) so I am really unsure if this foal will be a grulla or a zebra dun. If he is homozygous for the agouti gene, then this foal will be Victoria's first zebra dun foal! I love the honey colored horses (and of course the grullas!), but I will be thrilled with either color so long as the foal has amazing conformation, great temperament, and amazing breed type!

May 2010 Dressage Clinic

Clinician is Johannes Beck-Broichsitter. Author of Lateral Work: Training for a Supple Horse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TksgPmO0Is4

Grape Dragon's Rouge Empire

2003 14.2HH red dun Sulphur stallion FOR SALE



Has had two seasons of ground work at 2 and 3 years old. 90 days of under saddle training at 4 years. Started english. Trained to phantam. Has straws of semen in storage in northern California. Very good temperment. Is just a big dog in the yard at home. Would make excellent reining or cutting horse. Can send video of training sessions. Has one yearling stud colt on the ground.

Pedigree

Asking a reasonable $7,000 USD or best offer.

Located in Clearlake, CA

Contact Patty Copeland at:

Call: 707-994-0219

Email: cumacuma@sbcglobal.net

10 April 2010 Dressage Clinic

I finally got around to uploading some video that my sister took of me riding my purebred Spanish Sulphur mare La Victoria. Victoria is dragging her back legs a bit, but has gotten much better and more fit since this video. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wq-Jt7yjRc

The Mouth

Many people have commented on the mouth of the Spanish Sulphur breed and have often incorrectly referred them to be "parrot mouthed" due to the fact that the upper lip slightly overhangs the lower. In reading Juan Llamas' book titled This is the Spanish Horse we find this description fitting of a true Spanish horse. He quotes Joseph de Arcos who published a book titled Comentarios a la Real Ordenanza de Cavalleria del Reyno in 1757 defining the mouth of the Spanish horse as "large [in length] and proportionally long; fine lips, the upper one overhanging the lower".

So, we find that even centuries ago, this ideal mouth that is now relatively unknown in the American Iberian horse enthusiast population is actually the ideal Iberian mouth that has always been present in the old Iberian Spanish Sulphur population. We also come to find that the "Spanish" mouth preferred by these people that are unfamiliar with the true Iberian mouth often prefer a mouth that is referred by the Spaniards as a "calf's nose" that is often present on horses that have draught breeding or on draught breeds as pointed out by Juan Llamas who is a well respected expert on the Iberian horse.

La Victoria

My trainer has informed me that Victoria has once again not gone into season! So that would make Victoria 2 months pregnant!! I am so excited about this foal as it should be a really nice cross that should be better than both its parents and it is also a purebred! The color will be either a zebra dun or a grulla. Victoria has only ever produced grulla, but if Pueblo passes on an agouti gene then the foal will be a zebra dun.

Victoria has never not conceived on the first try (which she conceived after only one breeding) and has never not carried to term. She would rather be a broodmare than a riding horse. One of her daughters just had her first foal and the owner immediately commented on what a good mother Victoria's daughter is. Her daughter learned from the best!!

Horses

After all of the drama and nonsense that exists in the horse world and what type you prefer or whether you believe in strains or breeds or whatever. Every time I watch The Horse Whisperer a calm comes over me. It takes me back to the reason why I fell in love with horses. It isn't about what breed they are; it is about that they are horses. That I feel an amazing freedom and connection with them that I do not feel with any other animal. They are Pegasus. The untouchable dream. The only animal that gives me peace in my soul.